Mobile carts are employed in medical facilities to move medical equipment between locations. One type of mobile cart includes an x-ray source used to capture (e.g., digital) x-ray images on x-ray detector. Medical x-ray images can be captured using various digital or analog techniques.
Refer also to U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,282 (Koren) and WO 2007/139638 (Jadrich), and WO 2007/078684 (Dhurjaty), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,961 (McEvoy).
Mobile x-ray apparatus are of particular value in intensive care unit (ICU) and other environments where timely acquisition of a radiographic image is important. Because portable carts can be wheeled around the ICU or other area and brought directly to the patient's bedside, a portable x-ray imaging apparatus allows an attending physician or clinician to have recent information on the condition of a patient and helps to reduce the risks entailed in moving patients to stationary equipment in the radiological facility.
However, there is a need for improvements in mobile x-ray apparatus design to allow such devices to be more easily transported, deployed and/or operated.